Door check and closer



F. A. DEVAUX.

DOOR CHECK AND CLOSER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.24, 1921.

Patented Jan. 24, 1922.

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FELIX ALEXANDRE DEVAUX, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

DOOR CHECK AND CLOSER.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Jan. 24, 1922.

Application filed August 24, 1921'. Serial No. 494,854.

T 0 all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, FELIX .ALEXANDRE .DEVAUX, a citizen of the French Republic,

residing at 25 Rue des Taillandiers, Paris, France, have invented certain and useful Improvements in Door Checks and Closers.

My invention relates to a door-closing device with hydraulic braking, that is, an apparatus of the known type wherein the opening of the door has the effect of setting a spring and displacing a piston within a cylinder filled with liquid. During this movement the passage of the liquid from one side of the piston to the other takes place without any appreciable resistance, by reason of the opening of an automatic valve, whereas the closing of the door is effected by the expansion of the spring, and the movement of the piston accompanying the same can only be accomplished in a gradual manner, inasmuch as the liquid is caused to return to the other side of the piston through a small orifice, thus producing the hydraulic braking action. In the major part of the door-closing devices of this type hitherto constructed, the apparatus when once mounted in place will only operate in a determined sense, and while it is true that the parts of the device may be so disposed as to obtain the operation in the contrary sense, this can only be carried out by a skilled person possessing a full knowledge of the said apparatus and provided with suitable tools. Door-closing devices operating in both directions have already been proposed, but such devices require the previous tension of a spring, and are as a general rule of a complicated and expensive construction. Furthermore, in the said apparatus the springs hitherto employed are of such nature that their elasticity is variable after a certain time, thus requiring a regulation of the tension of such springs at certain intervals. These door-closing devices, which are more or less complicated, are as a general rule with a sleeve having a toothed crown which is actuated by a ratchet device connected with the articulated arm and acting upon the spring.

The door-closing device according to my invention is intended to obviate these various drawbacks, being of a simpler and more economical construction. The cylinder containing the liquid and the piston moving therein are of the known type. The shaft of th crank which actuates the connecting rod of the piston, to which is secured the articulated lever connecting the door with the door frame, is provided with two studs, one at the upper and one at the lower part, adapted to alternately impel according to the sense of the rotation one or the other of the ends of a spiral spring formed of flat wire surrounding the said shaft, whereas the other end of the said spring which is not impelled by one of the said studs is caused.

to remain in the fixed position by means of a stop piece disposed within the stationary cylindrical casing containing the said spring. The spring is so constructed that its elasticity will not become altered with time, in spite of the work which it is called upon to perform, and to carry this out it will suffice to submit the said spring to a previous forcing process whereby it is given a considerably greater deformation than will be produced under the normal conditions of operation. It will be observed that this device will permit the suppression of the said sleeve with toothed crown which is usually interposed between the shaft and the spring and whose movement is connected with that of the shaft by a ratchet device disposed upon the articulated arm.

The following description, together with the accompanying drawings which are given by way of example, sets forth an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. l is an elevational view of the device, with the upper part in section.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the cover removed.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view and,

Fig. 4 a general view.

The said door closing device comprises as in known devices a lower casing forming a horizontal cylinder 1, which is filled with liquid and has movable therein a piston whose crank is secured to the shaft 2. The upper part of the said casing constitutes a vertical cylinder 3 which is concentric with the shaft 2 and is separated from the lower cylinder by a fluid-tight partition traversed by the shaft 2 through a stufling box. The shaft 2 ends in a square portion 4 having secured thereto in the known manner one end 5 of the articulated universal joint shaft. The shaft 2 is provided with a longitudinal key 6. Upon the said shaft are disposed a lower sleeve 7 ending in a horizontal disk 8 provided with a stud 9, and an upper sleeve 1.0 ending in a disk 11 provided with a stud V 12. These two sleeves are connected with the shaft 2 by means of the key 6. Between the two sleeves is disposed a spiral spring 13 formed of a flat wire which is previously treatedin such manner that it will possess the same coefficient of elasticity irrespectively of the stresses to which it is subjected during the normal operation of the apparatus. The ends of the said spring are bent outwardly at a right angle in order to form the two branches 14, 15 which cooperate respectively with the studs 12, 9, these latter being connected with the shaft through the intermediary of the sleeves 10, 7. The cylindrical casing 3 is provided upon the inner surface with two stop pieces 16, 16, and the two ends 14:, 15 of the said spring have a sufficient length to respectively engage the said stop pieces. In this position the said spring has a certain initial tension. When the shaft 2 is actuated in the sense of rotation of the arrow 17 the stud 12 connected therewith will draw with it the end 1 1 of the spring, whereas the other end 15 is retained by the stop piece 16'. The opening of the door will thus effect the setting of the said spring as well as the displacement of the piston without appreciable resistance within the cylinder filled with liquid. The closing of the door is carried out by the expansion of the spring and is braked by hydraulic action.

When the shaft 2 is rotated in the contrary sense, that is, according to the arrow 18, it will draw with it the lower end 15 of the spring by means of the stud 9, whereas the upper end 14 will remain against the stop piece 16. It will be observed that the operation of the device is identical in both directions, and it is therefore equally applicable to doors which open in one or the other sense.

The said apparatus is constructed in a simple and economical manner. The spiral spring, whose coefiicient of elasticity remains constant irrespectively of stresses occurring under the normal operation, will require no adjustment.

What I claim-is:

A door-closing apparatus with hydraulic braking, comprising in combination with a piston movable within a cylinder containing liquid, a vertical shaft having the crank of the piston connected therewith, a sleeve surrounding the lower part of the said shaft and not revoluble thereon, a disk secured to the lower end of the said sleeve, a stud disposed upon the said disk, a second sleeve surrounding the upper part of the said shaft and not revoluble thereon,a disk secured to the upper part of the said sleeve, a stud disposed upon the said disk, a spiral spring surrounding the two sleeves and having the ends thereof bent outwardly in such manner as to form stop pieces at the exterior, a cylinder surrounding the shaft, the sleeves, the disks and the spring, and two stop pieces disposedone above the other in the fixed position upon the internal wall of the said cylinder and respectively opposite the corresponding ends of the said spring which are caused to bear upon opposite sides of the said stop pieces.

In witness whereof I'have hereunto set my hand. 7

FELIX ALEXANDRE DEVAUX. 

